Future Visions – Art staff and students

Possible Futures in Salford…drawn by university art staff and students

“Salford, 2013. This vision of the future is not about change, but what stays the same. The city is full of life, tall buildings and advertisement. Buildings have become connected. The buzz of cars is deafening. One lone tree stands out, almost like an exhibit in a museum”

“A future vision of Salford Quays in 2030, not much has changed but everything looks pristine and clean. Everything around has clean, smooth edges and expansion builds upwards not outwards. There is still greenery but it is very ordered and almost manufactured.“

“I saw a skyline on Salford Crescent. Above the line, the top 10 percent own 90% and they are wasteful and greedy. Below the line live an underclass that infight, tricked into believing their neighbour is their enemy. They are the very fat and the very thin. There are sky walkways for the elite to move around without contact with the underclass. A parasitic building made from the cheapest and most unsustainable materials is ‘planned’ to be obsolete after 5 years so that we can sell, buy and build some more.”

“Both my parents live with me and my husband. My dad’s coffee cup sits in the window and I look out on my mum’s bungalow in our garden – we grow our own veg. Kids are gone – grown with their own families. My husband and I walk along the beach. Work is through my screen, I am connected to colleagues and institutions whenever or not at all. We don’t go to the cities. It’s a quiet life.”

“My vision in 2030 is very peaceful. In this drawing, I am standing outside my futuristic house looking into the city. The location is outside the main city, where there is peace, quiet, privacy, fresh air and less traffic.”

“My vision for 2030 is a utopia on the outside (when wearing augmented reality glasses). Without glasses everything looks run down and old. There are 360 degree cameras on every street lamp. QR codes are everywhere for the 1st generation of augmented reality. Solar panels on every roof. PDs (Personal Drones) in the sky. Some are carrying parcels. In the distance is a metropolis with skyscrapers miles high. The space elevator can be seen behind the city. The streets are quiet, every one usually stays at home using virtual reality to communicate with other people and to order groceries. Clothing conducts energy from the sun which wirelessly charges personal devices.”

“A city of steel structures and glass structures. Abandoned bricked buildings and hovering cars. Polluted air and hovering cars. We are now living in a virtual reality where we live how we choose to.”

“I feel like I am dreaming. I visualise the future in fragments. Train (high speed) arrived to the heart of the city, there are green trees around and wild flowers. All high buildings have green living walls and gardens on the top of them. I am dressed in a long gypsy style dress (hippy look). I met my visualisation teacher, and we have very tasty, freshly baked croissants. I could actually smell them. Suddenly, I am riding a bicycle, all the city is designed for bicycles. Then I imagined London’s garden bridge and I thought ‘that this is a brilliant idea’. A Utopian City :)”

“In my future, I imagined that we as a society are going towards a more environmentally friendly way of travelling and transport where we have lanes dedicated for bike riders all around the city. Also, I think drones will become more popular for delivering packages.”